They couldn't hear the live performances, but RYAN PEARSON and PAUL CHAVEZ bring you the words of the winners.
In the winding halls backstage at the Staples Center, journalists can just barely hear the actual live performances echoing off empty seats behind the Grammy Awards stage.
But asap did get up close to the award winners as they made the rounds from the TV/Radio media room (lots of fashion questions) to the Deadline Photo room (flashing bulbs and much yelling) to the Print media room (remarkably quiet, filled with laptops and serious types) to the One-On-One spots like a room manned by singer-slash-interviewer Brian McKnight for the "Extra" entertainment news show.
Here's the choice selection of what we heard from Grammy winners:
"I think I rather would've lost to Gnarls Barkley, to be perfectly honest. We've been on tour with them and I've gotten to know them and I think they are interesting and fresh. It would've been cool to lose to them because it was their first record out of the box." -- Anthony Kiedis on losing to Dixie Chicks for Album of the Year.
"I really proved that it's possible to go from being a big nobody in a small town ... to living my dreams." -- Carrie Underwood.
"Naked Sundays: it's something my husband and I, we like to do in the privacy of our home. There's no naked grocery shopping or anything like that. We're not flashing the public. But we just hang in bed, we love to cozy, we cook. And everything's naked. Naked Sundays." -- Christina Aguilera to "Extra" on her Sunday tradition.
"I'm telling everybody, this is the best day of my life. This is my fifth album. Every album I've been nominated. I've had to sit through it. I met the deadline by four days to get considered for a Grammy for this album. ... I've cleared out my schedule for tomorrow because I'm going to party certainly hard this evening. Believe that." -- Ludacris to "Extra" and other reporters.
"I've won them in auction." -- John Mayer on why he hangs with hip-hop artists and other out-of-genre musicians.
"I feel like I'm in an Internet cafe." -- Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, to a room full of reporters with laptops.
"Weird Al is a cool dude. I don't think he's that weird." -- Chamillionaire on the parody artist who did a spoof of his rap song "Ridin' Dirty."
"I did not want to be 30-years-old with cornrows in my hair." -- Ludacris on his new short haircut.
"You can only be overlooked for so long. ... It's only a matter of time before everybody get they day. I think right now, this is my day." -- T.I.
"I'm just so happy that my peers recognized me enough to nominate me eight times. The three Grammys is just icing on the cake. Eight would've been like whew!" -- top nominee Mary J. Blige on taking home three Grammys.
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asap staff reporters Ryan Pearson and Paul Chavez were not nominated and won nothing all night.
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